Michael Bisping Sidelined by Knee Surgery

The UFC’s dearth of pay-per-view headlining title fights continues, as middleweight champion Michael Bisping looks to be sidelined until late spring.

Though the UFC had intended for Bisping to headline one of its first pay-per-views of the year, and he had recently teased a fight with welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, it appears a knee injury will keep Bisping out of action until sometime in May.

“I actually found out just recently I’ve got to have a knee surgery. Nothing major, just a clean up,” Bisping told Fight Network in a recent interview. “I’ve got a slightly torn meniscus, a couple other things going on in there, so I’ve got to get that knee surgery taken care of. We scheduled that and I should be having that in the next couple of weeks.”

Though Bisping didn’t sound as if the surgery was major, rehabilitation will leave him unavailable, at least, through UFC 210, which is slated for April 8 in Buffalo, N.Y.

“Get that taken care of and I’ll probably be defending the belt around May, something like that I would guess.”

Bisping last fought in October, when he won a five-round unanimous decision over Dan Henderson. There was hope that he would headline a Jan. 21 pay-per-view in Anaheim, Calif. When he wasn’t available and the promotion had difficulty securing a suitable headliner, the event was postponed until August.

Though Chris Weidman vs. Gegard Mousasi is on tap for UFC 210, the promotion has yet to announce any other bouts or name a headliner.